Uganda to lead Netball Uganda for next four years

National Insurance Corporation (NIC) Club Manager Jocelyn Ucanda was declared the new Netball Uganda president in a general assembly held in Lugogo on Saturday. 

Ucanda and four other executive members including the first vice president administration William Bwambale, second vice president technical Richard Muhumuza, Honorary secretary Amina Mmande and Honorary treasurer Yusuf Kamulegeya were all unopposed. 

Likewise the eight regional representatives were also declared winners without any opposition.

Ucanda who has had a long leadership stint in netball where she has served for over 18 years as a NIC club  manager as well as a She Cranes manager in former president Susan Anek's regime brags of a wealth of experience.

She is determined to work in harmony with all the disgruntled parties to see that the sport progresses. 

"First of all I want to bring back the hearts of the people of netball. We are not here to divide people; we have come to unify people. Whether you have come to support us or not, you are still a netball fan and part of the netball fraternity, you are all welcome, we are a unifying team, " said Ucanda. 

Surely, unification is what Netball Uganda needs at the moment especially with the presence of a few disgruntled parties.

Two days after the assembly, one Ronald Mudhasi, a former delegate who had requested for a court injunction to stop the AGM, had his application dismissed by the High Court. 

Mudhasi belongs to former vice president Flavia Byekwaso’s camp that announced their withdrawal from the electoral race citing concerns over transparency and governance by the normalisation committee. This helped Ucanda and her party to emerge unopposed.

Ucanda’s Cabinet

On Ucanda's cabinet are other experienced leaders in the sport including her vice president Bwambale who is returning for the post he had held before 2021 when Susan Anek stepped down to usher in new leadership under embattled Sarah Babirye Kityo. 

Likewise the Honorary treasurer Yusuf Kamulegeya served in the same regime as a treasurer. Meanwhile Amina Mmande and Muhumuza served with Babirye as general Secretary and vice president technical before they fell out due to financial issues. 

The different regions in the country will also be represented and the different leaders include; Sarah Nkonge (Buganda), Alice Alweny (Eastern), Yahaya Sengabi (Kampala), Rajab Sentamu (Kitara), Zuniga Gutu (Northern), John Bosco Omugen (North East), Dauglas Kabwenjere (Western) and Brenda Dradria (West Nile).

The Normalisation committee will continue guiding the new cabinet until December 31 when they will officially hand over.  Moses Mwase the chairperson of the Normalisation committee revealed that they will continue mentoring the new leaders.

“We have to explain the importance of ensuring that what we have built should not be a house of cats. The work we have put in we would like it to be really long standing. I think one of the key pillars is for people to understand the constitution. One of the new innovations in the constitution is a governance and ethics committee which will be providing oversight, checks and balances in ensuring we don't go back to what brought the sport to where it is,” Mwase told the media.

It should be noted that the Uganda Netball Federation certificate was revoked due to leadership and financial wrangles that escalated in 2023 and the Normalisation committee was put in place to steer the sport to normalcy.